I’m seeing this movie in a few hours and thought I’d start a thread for people to put their reviews in.
Bit of advice…GO INTO THIS MOVIE WITH AN EXTREMELY OPEN MIND!
It is not at all what you expect and may come off as a let down the first time you see the movie. Having said that, I’m interested in seeing what others think.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/cst-ftr-matrix14f.html
That is a link to Ebert’s review.
Wait, have you seen it or not? How do you know it’s not what we expect? Use spoiler boxes, please. 
I’m seeing it in 9½ hours. I’m so excited! 
Not yet, but the reviews have told me a few things.
[spoiler] Basically, the movie is very confusing and the entire time in Zion is terrible. I have heard comparisons to the Phantom Menace with regards to the opening 45 minutes.
Then, when you finally think everything will be explained to you, the movie turns on itself and gets even more confusing.[/spoiler]
A lot of people have been let down, but have said that they enjoyed it more the second time, being able to take it for what it is.
Here is what my friend told me, who is in the press and saw it sunday night (or Monday)…
pretty extreme spolier:
[spoiler]As you probably know there are now many Agent Smiths on the loose. One thing he now has the ability to do is take over someone’s “body” in the Matrix and go back into the real world, taking over their body there as well. He does this to try and get Neo, unsuccessfully in “Reloaded”, but it will be a huge storyline in “Revolutions”.
Towards the end of the movie, it appears that Neo will be able to use his powers in the real world, not just the Matrix.
Neo brings Trinity back to life after she is shot and apparently dies. This was also the cheesiest part of the movie IMO.
And the big kicker…
Neo meets the ‘Creator’ of the Matrix. We learn that the current version of the Matrix is actually the sixth Matrix, and Neo is actually the sixth ‘One’ who tries to stop it. Each time it ends with the destruction of Xion and the recreation of the Matrix. It’s a very complex part of the story and I would have trouble explaining it here, but essentially Neo is given two choices, guarantee humanity’s survival or go back into the Matrix to save Trinity, and risk humanity’s demise. You can probably guess which one he chooses.
[/spoiler]
Oh, and here was his very first reaction, before I asked fro true spoliers…not really a big spoiler, but obviously I will tag it anyways:
[spoiler]Well, I just got home from the press screening of “Matrix: Reloaded”, and I have to say, it was good, but not great. The effects, as usual, are incredible; the car/motorcycle chase scene is probably the best chase scene ever. However, the first hour of the movie seemed to drag. There was a TON of backstory presented, which was interesting, but caused the movie to advance very slowly. But there are a ton of new plot developments, so many in fact that it is almost difficult to keep up with them all. By the end of the movie you have an almost entirely different perspective on the Matrix and some of the movie’s characters. Also, it just seems to end too abruptly, and something that seemed relatively major to the plot (which I won’t discuss here for obvious reasons) seems to be glossed over in the last five minutes. Overall, I would give it a B, whereas I would give the original an A/A+. Not bad, but not as good as I had hoped.
[/spoiler]
Has anyone seen the trailer for Matrix Revolutions that plays at the end of Reloaded?
Wow!! It looked cool.
I have a friend who refused to listen to anything about Episode II in the weeks and months before it was released. He avoided all trailers, read no articles, and kept himself as free from all knowledge about the movie as possible. When I asked why, he said that when he was a child, he went to see The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and didn’t have anything spoiled, and that he wanted to go into these movies with the same childlike innocence.
At the time, I had been watching and dissecting trailers for Episode II, and did the same for Fellowship and Two Towers. However, I have avoided all publicity for Matrix Reloaded other than one trailer and a few screenshots.
I’m going to see it in two hours.
And those spoiler boxes are KILLING me. I may need to go for a two hour walk just to stay away from this thread until showtime.
I just realized something that will make going to this movie waaaay better than I expected. Guaranteed crowd silence.
Think about it. Who are the main problem causers? Teenage boys and Teenage girls.
The teenage boys will be far too interested in the movie to screw around and talk. And of course, since the teenage boys will not be accompanied by girlfriends, we can trust their presence will be nonexistent.
WHERE ARE the MEXICAN HUMANS? BILL CLINTON and the PLEADEANS stole all of the MEXICANS! THE MATRIX SPEAKS the TRUTH! NO ONE WANTS to hear the LIGHT! BILL CLINTON WILL detroy this film!!!
I’m going to see it tomorrow. The extended chase scenes were filmed in my neighborhood, so I’m looking forward to seeing the local sights.
I was surprised to see the Posey Tunnel in the preview since it’s only six-tenths of a mile long. I wonder how long it’ll seem in the movie.
I believe that you’re looking at this from the wrong angle. [spoiler]It makes no sense to believe that Neo can use his “powers” in the real world. Given that, along with several other tidbits (like the Oracle knowing what Neo dreamed while he was in Zion, and Agent Smith being able to cross from the Matrix to the real world) leads me to believe that the “real world” is actually another Matrix. The machines created a Matrix within a Matrix. It’s anyone’s guess as to how many levels the Matrices are nested, but it’s at least once.
What the machines’ ultimate purpose is is anyone’s guess. Hell, humans might not exists at all for all we know. They could just be simulations. Or volunteers from some upper level of reality.
Of course, taking all of this into consideration, it makes perfect sense that Neo was able to save Trinity; she never died to begin with! Her death was merely simulated in two seperate Matrices simultaneously.[/spoiler]
Overwhelming! The movie was phenomenal!
Great action, great story. It blew me away.
My only minor complaint was the rave scenes in Zion. Little bit silly, but not to big a deal.
Anyone who liked the first movie should love the second. If you were neutral or disinterested in the first, this movie most likely won’t convert you.
By the way, am I the only one who noticed that when Neo is talking to the architecht, he mentions great human error. The screens flash Hitler followed immediately by George W. Bush. WTF?
I loved the final shot of the movie. Very well executed.
Anyone who has seen this film, please come to this thread (major spoilers therein!) for discussion on the plot.
As for a review, there was definitely more to it than I expected, which is very good. However I thought the last shot was extra cheesy. That silly ominous music that you always get on cheap dramas right before they cut to commercial? Or were you being sarcastic?
Great movie. Loved it, but…
[spoiler]The movie did need to pick up the pace at the beginning, and what the hell was with that rave scene? I mean, it looks like a cooler religious ceremony than waiting in line to eat a “death cookie” like I did growing up, but still, that seemed out of place.
Okay, someone check me on this 'cause this is my take of the movie’s big plot twist:
There are two matrix’s or at least two aspects to one Matrix.
The first matrix is the one that most closely resembles the real world (I’ll refer to it as the Prime Matrix).
The second matrix is the one that holds Zion, and the one that Neo and everyone believes (or believed) is the real world (I’ll refer to this as the Zion Matrix).
The purpose of having two matrixes is because 1% or so of the people in the Prime Matrix refuse to accept the program and too keep them from becoming to disruptive a factor upon the Matrix they created the Zion Matrix as someplace for them to go and believe that they can actually do something about the predicament they’re in, when in actuality they’re still plugged in and feeding the machines. Basically the Zion Matrix is a way of making sure that all the humans stay “happy”, a release valve.
After a while there get to be too many people disrupting the Matrix, the Zion Matrix can’t hold any more people and the machines need to “reboot” everything. They’ve done this six times, improving the Matrix each time, or at least the first several times, and now the machines have reached an equilibrium they’re content with.
Neo is basically a reboot program, he’s not human. That is why he can do all those things in the Matrix, and why he stopped the sentinels in the Zion Matrix at the end of the movie. The machines input him into the Matrix when it reaches a critical mass and they need to go back to the start point.
One of the things he does is pick who will be the start of the new Zion. He picks a certain number of people to restart Zion with them thinking they are the founders or something. Zion gets destroyed every time the Matrix reboots, and in the movie they’re heading for destruction number six.
The Oracle is not as good as she seemed to be, but is there to make sure Neo reboots everything (okay, I’m not so sure about this part, but then again I’m not sure about anything in this post).
And another possibility altogether is that the Zion Matrix is the real world and the machines let Zion exist as someplace to dispose of disruptive factors in the Matrix. Once too many disruptive factors leave the Matrix however, they start coming back and causing trouble, at which point they need to reset everything, starting with the destruction of Zion. The machines then drop a few people into Zion, thinking that they’re the start of rebellion or something, to start the whole cycle over again. Neo’s a human, but one who’s brain was hardwired by the machines with a reboot program. Of course that doesn’t explain how he stopped the sentinels.
I know I’m leaving a bunch out, but that seemed to be the basic thrust of the plot twist in the movie and a few other loose ends. Anybody have any thoughts on any of this?[/spoiler]
I’ll tell ya, I don’t know what I enjoyed more, the movie or the car ride home discussing what the hell happened in the movie.
I’m glad to see so many people enjoyed it. I was worried before seeing the movie that it would get mixed reviews.
Read this review from Harry Knowles. I know, he’s usually crazy, but his analysis here is shockingly well done. He goes through what he didn’t like about the movie.
Every single point he makes I disagree with. IMHO, the movie was close to perfect, better than the first one, and well worth my time.
So it looks like it’s going to be another cult sequel which will divide the fans.
I didn’t like it. I don’t know what might spoil it, so I’ll put the whole thing in the spoiler box
Disappointed with the whole Matrix inside a Matrix plot line. I remember watching the first movie and being blown away by it. After the movie, I turned to my wife Sians Mom and told her it reminded me of a ST:TNG episode. I’m not a Trekker, but I’m sure someone will chime in with the name of the episode. Data gets tired of his Sherlock Holmes holodeck program because he know it backwards and forwards. So Geordi or Data (don’t remember who) asks the computer to program a game worthy of Data. The computer ends up programming a sentient Moriarty with the awareness that he exists inside a holodeck program. He invites Picard to the holodeck to make a deal. Picard leaves the holodeck to figure out what to do, but Moriarty has reprogrammed the holodeck so that when Picard thinks he’s left, it turns out he is still on the holodeck.
The pacing of the movie seemed off. The first half seemed very long. The Documentary on Zion life seemed to last for ever.
What the hell was the MTV House Party that they just threw in there. I felt like I was watching The Phantom Menace. “Why the Hell am I watching a Nascar race in the middle of a Star Wars Movie?”
Felt weird hearing Morpheus yelling to the crowd. He is such a soft-spoken character that it was jarring. A very Cyrus, The Warriors, “Can you dig it!” moment
The reason for the faux tension between Morpheus, Niobe & Locke? I almost expected the commander to go into some “Dirty Harry” angry, police captain routine. “Dammit, Morpheus, you’re a loose cannon. Now you will follow departmental procedure, or I’ll have you badge!”
There was a more bullet-time and more elaborate fight scenes, but it didn’t do it for me. I’ll admit that going into this film I hoped that John Gaetta was going to pull more tricks out of his hat, but it was just more of the same rabbit.
The fight scenes didn’t have any tension to them. Once again ruined by the first film. In this movie, Neo hardly ever gets hit. You know nothing is going to happen to him, because he is The One. A lot of people laughed when Neo flew away from the Army of Smiths, but it seemed to cement my point. “What are you going to do to him now?”
Jada Pinkett Smith and Monica Bellucci were delish.
-The freeway chase scene was good, it might be better than the freeway scene in “To Live and Die in LA”.
I thought the first Matrix should have been entitled Much Ado About Nothing. I expect more of the same from the second.
This review really is the one I agree with the most so far(the first half is about animatrix, so skip down a bit)
I agree especially with his appreciation of the Brothers’ willingness to try something new, to push everything as far as they can.
I have to disagree with the take that some people here have on the movie:
I don’t believe we were meant to think that the Zion reality was another Matrix within the Matrix. That wouldn’t make any sense since the Architect needs to destroy it. If it were simply another Matrix, couldn’t he just delete it via computer means?
No, what the movie meant us to think (which may or may not be true) is that the Matrix only works if the 1 % of people which will not accept it are given a “sanctuary” to run to when they reject it. The problem is, the program still has an inherent instability and thus the One is needed to reboot the program and choose 23 people from inside the Matrix to repopulate Zion.
Neo’s abilities working in the real world I believe are meant to indicate that there is some paranormal power at work here beyond the power of the machines.
For people putting things in spoiler boxes, your presence in the thread I linked to earlier would be much appreciated.